Press release

I hope we can recover the energies we need, says coach Rezende

Coaches on the eve of the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup second round starting in Kumamoto, Japan

Kumamoto, Japan, November 23, 2011 - After the first round in Kagoshima has come to a close, the site B teams change venues, moving to Kumamoto for the second round of this 2011 FIVB Men’s World Cup.

Kumamoto has several exciting matches on tap on November 24 and Nov. 25. Russia are one of two teams with an undefeated record in the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup Japan 2011, and they have done so with wins over No. 3 Italy and No. 4 USA. At Kumaoto, Russia will face No. 1 Brazil on November 24, followed by Egypt on Nov. 25.

Brazil rank third in the FIVB World Cup standings with seven points with wins over No. 4 USA and Egypt while falling to Italy in match extended to 22-20 in the fifth set. The South American giants will face China after their match with No. 2 Russia.

Italy, which shocked Brazil by coming back from a 2-1 set deficit to win, are ranked sixth in the tournament with 5 points with a 2-1 record. They also topped Egypt on the second day after opening the tournament with a four-set loss to Russia. Italy has matches with China along with USA.

After losing to No. 1 Brazil and No. 2 Russia after falling behind early and mounting a late charge, USA (1-2) hopes to start strong against Egypt in their first match Kumamoto to build momentum into the pivotal match against Italy. A third USA loss could derail their hopes of Olympic Games qualification through the FIVB World Cup.

Egypt will look to use their momentum from a 3-0 win against China in their second round matches against USA and Russia, but that will be a huge task against the No. 4 and No. 2 teams in the world.

China faces two stiff challenges in Kumamoto against No. 3 Italy and No. 1 Brazil. The Chinese are currently the only team from the Site B teams without a win.

Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende: I think we have a very tough group. We are playing a little inconsistent, with some ups and downs. In the first round we played good teams, and I hope we can improve. Now we play best the team of the tournament, Russia, and then China. I hope we can recover the energies we need to get to our goal of Olympic qualification. It’s a tough group, but we need to keep focused and thinking about the next match.

China coach Zhou Jianan: For us the World Cup is very difficult because every team is strong. Also for us it’s a good opportunity because we get more experience and can improve our abilities. We want to show Chinese men’s volleyball on the world stage.

Egypt coach Sherif El-shemerly: Thank god we got our first win during these last three matches. The team is improving step-by-step. It’s a tough group, and I think two or three of the Olympic tickets (top three spots) will be from here. It’s tough for us, because we have many young newcomers playing for the first time at a high level, but they are adapting gradually. In my opinion we have two difficult matches tomorrow and the day after tomorrow; big teams, with big stars. I hope we can play good in front of them, because we respect them very much.

Italy coach Mauro Berruto: Everyone has said this is tough group and I agree. In our three matches we have had the first and second ranked teams and we got five points. It’s useless to say whether or not that’s a lot — it is five points. What’s useful for us now is looking ahead, using these three matches to see where we can still improve, and seeing where to put efforts in our matches looking ahead to our target… knowing that each match is a new battle to get as many points as we can.

Does China have a chance to win against his team tomorrow? I hope not, but I’m joking of course. We know all the teams here deserve to be here, all are very consistent and good on the court. I believe every match here has its own history, but tomorrow is a new day, and we’re at a new location [Kumamoto, from Kagoshima] and there are many new things. What’s past is past, and what is coming is the most important to focus on. We respect China, and we know it will be hard. Of course China can put us in trouble. It’s volleyball and we’re talking about best teams in the world.

Russia coach Vladimir Alekno: We have shown a good rhythm so far, but its not over yet. In tomorrow’s game we have to do our best to be a strong team.

USA coach Alan Knipe: We said in the last press conference that this is a difficult group, and that’s certainly the case. For us our two losses were against two good teams. We got invested in our matches a little too late, and that’s something we need to be better at. But we can’t worry about that, only what we can control. We need to keep the same standard all the way through. Our guys are up to the challenge, and are more than capable of a higher standard. Much of it has to do with the opponents, but our guys are resilient and looking forward to playing better volleyball in the second stage.